The restaurant that sold them turned out to be closed, so he booked into a hotel for the night and early the next morning returned to get the shot. Michael Zee, author of Zao Fan: Breakfast of China. Photo: Michael Zee He then got back on the train to continue his journey, but within an … Read more
The finished product has a distinctive pungent aroma and yielding texture that has been likened to ripe soft cheese, and it is an essential ingredient in traditional Cantonese dishes such as stir-fried water spinach, and lamb stew with bean curd sheets. A bottle of Liu Ma Kee Limited preserved bean curd. Photo: Stanley Shin Liu … Read more
Chinese history has produced many cultural exports, particularly to East and Southeast Asia. Here are five of the most significant: 1. Hanzi (Chinese characters) Calligraphy dates back 3,000 years in China, and was exported to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Photo: Shutterstock The logographic system of Chinese languages is widely accepted by world scholars as one … Read more
Among the healthiest and most easily digestible sources of vegetable protein, the humble soybean – known in Cantonese as daai dau (“great bean”) – has provided varied sources of taste and nutrition in China, and other parts of East Asia, for more than 2,000 years. Soybeans are produced in massive quantities all over the world, … Read more
Humble, pungent-tasting foo yu – fermented blocks of bean curd – are a staple of cuisines across China and the diaspora. A favourite from when I first encountered them in the home of Chinese friends in Malaysia, long before coming to live in Hong Kong, this inexpensive item has been a kitchen store-cupboard favourite ever … Read more
